M. Bilal Baseer Abbasi
Samina Bukhari, a lady cadet police officer is among the 3200 cadets who were demoted to the lower ranks hails from a lower middle class family of Haripur district. She joined the police service in 1996 and has been with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police force for 27 years.
Samina rose through police ranks from a constable to deputy superintendent of police where she served at several key positions as a crime preventor, an investigator, an administrator and by overseeing security in a women’s protection cell. She like her other counterparts has been demoted to the ranks of her batchmates and made head constable as she was promoted under fast track promotion available in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police rules.
Though the Peshawar High Court has suspended the orders of Inspector general of police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about the reversion of the cadets from their position but 3200 cadet police personnel still denied of their rightful jobs. The cadet police officers have claimed that their promotion is fully based on rules but under the delibrate conspiracy by their coequals recruited in police department through public service commission (PSIs) they are being enforced in out of turn promotion category.
On the one hand, the PSIs believe that the cadet police officers are violating their fundamental rights as solely they are entitled of taking promotions and owing to addition of cadet police officials their promotions are being halted and delayed. While on the contrary, cadet officers are of view that ever since the police department has formed there is a proper scheme of laws available in police rules for promotion of cadet police officials as they could not be considered as an outsiders.
A cadet officer serving as Superintendent of Police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa who wished not to be named told his woes that when in 1990s they were appearing in cadetship courses who was the toughest competitive examinations of his time as all cadets having more than 70 marks in recruit training course were allowed to participate in it and among them only one cadet who could perform well in examination was entitled for cadetship. At that time these PSIs were doing matriculation.
The background of the case is that the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2013 had declared the out-of-turn promotions against the constitution, and a sheer violation of the injunctions of Islam. It also ruled that no police officer or civil servant was entitled to any such promotion on account of a gallantry award.
In 2018, a petition was filed by the affected police officials in the apex court but the larger bench of the Supreme Court maintained an earlier decision and declared all out-of-turn promotions in the police department void. They directed the relevant quarters to determine the seniority of all police officers and maintained that those who jumped ahead will have to go back as the officials would be promoted only on their turn.
The recent developments in the case came when on the Supreme Court judgement about out of the turn promotion the inspector general of police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa issued orders of demotions of police officials on March 12, 2023 and directed them to join their ranks. The cadets approached the Peshawar High Court against IGP orders which was declared null and void by Peshawar high court.
Earlier the larger bench of Peshawar High Court announced the verdict on March 24, 2022 on the petition filed by the cadet police personnel against police department for restraining the authorities for taking any action against their demotion without interpretation of the Supreme Court order as they believe that the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan was regarding the gallantry promotions awarded to officers in Punjab and Sindh in which SC considered specific sections 8A and 9A of civil service act of Sindh and Punjab regarding gallantry promotion which have no parameter and rules while the cadet promotion in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has legal cover and scheme of laws which are not affecting any fundamental right of recruits.
For understanding this we need to know who are the cadet police personnel? Cadet police personnel refers to police officials who are recruited as rankers in police department. When ranker is hired as Constable he has to undergo a recruit training course and required to complete it successfully. Those recruits who pass the course with more than 70 percent marks are allowed to participate in cadetship examination. This opportunity is available for all recruits so the fundamental right of any recruit may not be affected.
The source in the legal section of central police office on the condition of anonymity says, it is crystal clear that selection of cadet in police is according to the Police Standing Order Act 2005, not the unconstitutional, because the law and rule available for promotion of cadets were not against the fundamental rights as cadetship opportunity is equally available to all trainees.
The Peshawar High Court in its detailed judgment issued on March 27, 2022 clarified that it seems the scheme of law in case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is available and thus set aside all previous decisions of police department with the direction not to take any action against the cadet police officers until the interpretation of scheme of law is done by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government.
Source opined that as the cadet officials are experienced and perform well in their official obligations so there is a factor of jealousy as well as the PSIs were given false hope if the cadets are reverted to lower ranks than they may get chance of promotion in their place so that’s why the decision of the Supreme Court was used by some probationary officers as a shield to deprive the cadets of their basic rights.
“In the light of standing order number 11 of 1987, which had subsequently been validated through validation of standing order Act 2005, 13.06 police rules, 89.A Manual of police training college Hangu and amended police rules 13.7 B of Police Act 2017, all KP police cadets have the rights of these promotions”. The source revealed.
The source further maintained that the larger bench of Peshawar High Court has considerd all the aforementioned rules pertinent and that’s why reffered the case to Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to clear their position whether they want to continue with the above mentioned scheme of laws or not with the directions to the authorities concerned not to take any adverse action until it is interpreted by the government. The both judgements of apex court pertains only to those gallantry promotions which were given to police officers in Sindh and Punjab under sections 8.A ,and 9.A of civil servants Act of Punjab and Sindh which was declared as null and void while the promotions given to cadets police officers in KP are supported by the orders/judgments of Apex Court. Keeping in mind the above narrated facts, the position of cadets of Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is different from such cases, as their selection is totally based on competitive examinations like fast track promotion in which every trainee has an opportunity to take part in it.
Now what is an issue of out of turn promotion and who are beneficiaries if cadets are demoted? The case is that officers who are inducted in police force through public service commission don’t want cadet personnel to compete with them. In the view of them, due to the cadetship their process of promotion is slow and if it is termed unconstitutional then they would get more relief in promotion that’s why after the announcement of detailed verdict of the larger bench of Peshawar High Court unfortunately the conspiracy has not ended though the larger bench by set asiding all previous decisions of police hierarchy made it clear that cadets serving in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police are not affected by the decision of Supreme Court. The probationary officers with the help of PSP officers of police service wanted to demote them in lower ranks and are creating unnecessary troubles for their personal gains by wrongfully misinterpreting the decisions of Supreme Court and misguiding the higher ups so to deprived the cadets of their fundamental rights though the larger bench of PHC has already announced a detailed verdict by accepting the demands of cadet officials.
It is the right time for the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the police authorities to look into the matter prudently on merit basis and this controversy between the cadet police officers and probationary officers must come to an end once and for all. I hope better sense continues to prevail.
